Like Sands Through The Hourglass

We made a royal mess in the kitchen this morning. This is what happens when I up and make waffles, forsaking my usual cold cereal fare. I know, I know, kids need a hot breakfast. But do they need a breakfast of leaden, bulletproof dough? It seems that they do not.

I found what appeared to be a Tupperware container of waffle mix and I used the directions off of a new box of mix. I'm opposed to wasting. The mystery substance passed the sniff-test, the texture-test, the take-a-close-look test and even the teeny-tiny-taste test. Alas, something was amiss. The initial batch of waffles appeared to be cast from plaster of Paris. In typical fashion, Calvin told me he would eat them anyway. I didn't take him up on his offer.

We tossed the whole thing down the sink and I have to admit, I was thinking "Two and 2/3 cups of milk, down the drain! Two eggs, long gone!"

This comes on the heels of a pot of broccoli cheese soup that I made yesterday. 9 cups of chicken stock and 9 cups of milk? How much does this recipe make?? Oh, it serves 18! Fantastic.

My New Year's resolution is to read the recipe closely and in full before I begin bustling about.

My word for the year is PayattentionEtheloryou'llbeeatingbroccolisoupuntilthedayyoudie.

Round II of Waffle Mania went off without a hitch, using the recipe and the mix from the very same box.

So, the kitchen is clean and we've hit that magical part of the morning where the sun peers in and I make the rounds, turning off the lights that glowed during our earlier, gloomier hours.

It's play time.

Ruby is in her silver micro-mini (from the dress-up box). She's practicing "headstands" and pulling Siley around the house in a 6-foot nylon tunnel.

Calvin is Lego-ing and talking to my parents on the phone.

Pretty soon, our daily art sesh will commence.

Their styles couldn't possibly be more different.

Siley clamors for markers but eventually settles for a crayon, though not until after he's peeled it clean.

He scribbles around for a while and brings me the cutest 2-year old masterpiece. Then, he's climbing on the table again, plotting his take-down of the marker bunker.

Calvin works with diligence.

He crafts his vision carefully.

His preferred topics include oceanography, architecture and transportation of various forms.

(Please note the Clown Fish here. He was quite proud of the Clown Fish.)

Then we have our resident tortured artist.

Who knows what bee may have crept into her bonnet on this day.

Who could guess what might get stuck in her craw today.

It is an abiding mystery.

Eventually she'll shake it off and set to work.

And the outcome is generally something along these lines.

Scary, right?

These are the days of our lives. They aren't fancy or exciting, but they're toasty and loud, messy and slow.

Happy Wednesday, Homies.